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Friday, July 13, 2012

Signs of the South

Signs Of The South by Narielle Living is a paranormal mystery. The action takes place in a small town in Virginia. Ella moves into a house without any idea of its history. Soon strange things start happening and she is having strange dreams. Eventually Ella has to accept that she's living with a ghost. All she needs to do is solve a disappearance from more than 30 years ago.

I've never been to the Southern United States (I'm pretty sure Southern California doesn't count) but the more books set there that I read the less I want to go. This book doesn't help things. Think of any "Southern" cliche and it's in this book. Racism? Check. Misogyny? Check. Stupidity? Check. Hypocrisy? Check. Deep dark secrets? Check.

Having said that, this isn't a bad book. It's a fairly fast read. Ella is likable and the mystery is intriguing. As for the other characters, Ella's sister is annoying and there are a pair of college professors who remind me of Nick and Nora Charles for some reason. There's a cop for a love interest but he really isn't in the book very much (though he and Ella end up in bed pretty quickly.)

My one big peeve with this book is that the "whodunit" is never solved. The body is found but no culprit is named or punished. When I read 348 pages of a story, I want to know who did it! If they're not going to be punished, it better be because they're dead.